The Nigeria Football Federation said it had banned Super Eagles coach Salisu Yusuf on Wednesday. He has been banned for 12 months and fined $5,000 (4,300 euros) for receiving cash from undercover journalists posing as agents.
Yusuf was found guilty of accepting $1,000 by the NFF ethics and fair play committee after he was caught on camera being asked to select two players for the 2018 African Nations Championship (CHAN).
“He is hereby banned for the period of one year, from partaking or involvement or participation in any football-related activity, effective from the date of this decision,” the NFF said.
“He has additionally been fined the sum of $5,000 to be paid within three months of the date of this decision.”
Yusuf, denied this and will have the option to appeal if he so desires.
The BBC, which aired the footage, said the report was part of a wider investigation into corruption in African football by the Ghanaian journalist Anas Aremeyaw Anas.
Head of the Ghana Football Association, Kwesi Nyantakyi, resigned as a result of the expose. This is after he was accused of soliciting bribes and kickbacks.
According to a statement Yusuf made to the BBC in July, is that the sum was $750, not $1,000, and it was meant as a “gift of trivial and symbolic value”, that was acceptable within NFF and FIFA guidelines.
The committee however maintains that Yusuf’s actions had “a damaging effect on the reputation and integrity of Nigerian football”.
It added that “he ought to have conducted himself more professionally… as his conduct in public and in secret should be exemplary, since coaches are role models”.
Yusuf has coached Enyimba and Kano Pillars in the past. He also helped senior men’s team coach Gernot Rohr steer the Super Eagles to this year’s World Cup in Russia.